A MEME-morable Comeback: How this marketing strategy helped one company with its “back on the road” campaign! [Thursdays: FYO!]
Angkas is a Philippine motorcycle vehicle for hire and package delivery company based in Metro Manila, Philippines.
In November 2017, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) suspended the ride-hailing business for operating without a business permit.
10 months later…
In September 2018, the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court issued a preliminary ruling that allowed Angkas to operate―at least until a final ruling was made.
This made the ride-hailing service express its joy on Twitter, asking supporters to stay patient as the business prepares to get back on the road.
What did Angkas do to raise awareness about its comeback?
Meme Marketing!
Meme marketing is a subset of viral marketing that uses word of mouth (WOM) and social media to accomplish a brand’s marketing goals.
A lot of brands use this strategy to enhance the value of their digital marketing and create catchy and entertaining content that online users can share.
Going back to Angkas’ meme marketing strategy…
Here are some of the company’s memes on Twitter!
Translation: “Do you plan to ride [on my motorcycle]?”
In this meme, Angkas used “Valak” (the demonic nun in the 2018 movie, “The Nun”) as reference to the Filipino word “balak,” which means plan or intention. The meme was posted during the premiere week of “The Nun” movie in the Philippines and created to follow the trend since many were talking about the film.
Translation for “Kapit lang po sa waist or sa vest!” – “Just hold onto my waist or vest!”
“Charot” is a colloquial term for “joke” or “just kidding.” In this meme, an Angkas driver and a Grab driver (the companies are rivals in the Philippine market) are riding one motorcycle, causing Angkas to tweet, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer charot.”
These are just some of Angkas’ sassiest memes! If you like to see more of these types of content from the ride-hailing service, check out its Twitter account here.
Angkas’ Twitter memes usually garner an average of 2,000 to 8,000 likes and over 1,100 retweets per post. These likes and retweets help the company establish its online presence and interact with online users through fun and creative content.
Thanks to a quick and witty approach, Angkas is able to be in constant conversation with its followers especially during its “back on the road” comeback!
As a business owner or marketer (and when applicable), should you also try meme marketing to strengthen your brand’s online presence?
YES!
Below are some of the benefits of this marketing strategy:
- Increased engagement.
Memes are a good method to increase your brand’s social media engagement rates.
Since these types of content are funny, relatable, and shareable, they are an effective tool to start a conversation with your target market.
Memes help expand your online reach, too! The more likes, shares, and comments you receive, the higher the chance that a lot of social media users encounter your brand.
So, use this opportunity wisely to gather leads. Who knows? With just a little push, you might convince these prospects to convert into your brand’s customers!
- Customer diversification.
Memes work well for all ages… and while millennials are mostly the ones contributing to the hype of memes, the younger and older generations are also becoming more familiar with these types of content.
As a business owner or marketer, make sure you advertise your product or service easily through memes without giving the impression that your marketing is forced.
Keep your meme ads subtle. This will naturally draw your target market’s attention and compel them to interact with your brand by sharing, liking, or commenting on your post!
- Low-cost advertising.
Paid promotions sometimes cost a lot and put a strain on your brand’s budget.
With memes, your ads are absolutely free! All you have to do is create a funny post with a creative caption related to your brand and post them on your website, social media accounts, or other online platforms.
As long as your meme ads are something your target market can relate to, you’ll be able to capture their attention and use them as part of your manpower to spread the word about your business!
- A trendy type of marketing.
The quote, “Slow and steady wins the race” is somehow irrelevant in the marketing industry.
If you fail to keep up with the latest trends, chances are competitors will overtake your brand and snatch your prospects and customers away.
You don’t want that, do you?
That’s why you have to know what’s in and out for your target market. When you associate your products or services with the latest trends or topics along with a pinch of humor, you’ll keep the interaction between your brand and your target market going!
Creating Memes the Right Way
Filling your social media feed with memes also poses a few risks.
Sometimes, online users might get offended by some of your content and so you have to construct your meme ads CAREFULLY.
Sure, memes are usually funny but when you step on the wrong foot, you might be bombarded with a lot of bashes and negative comments instead of drawing consumers closer to your brand.
That’s the last thing you would want to happen to your business!
Here are a few guidelines that will help you win your target market’s hearts through meme ads:
- Make sure your meme matches your branding. Using irrelevant humor on your brand’s social media pages will fall flat. Therefore, it’s important to know the voice of your brand before creating memes.
For example: If the tone of your brand is serious, it’s advisable to conduct market research about your customers first then maintain a fine line between humor and offensive jokes.
This will help you stay true to your branding and interact well with your target market at the same time!
- Avoid overdoing your memes. Try to tell a funny joke to your friends repeatedly. At first, they will laugh at your joke but in the succeeding moments, they will find your joke boring because they already know the punchline.
The same concept applies to memes. When you bombard your social media followers with memes, your content will be less interesting. So, always make sure you use memes sparingly and at proper timing!
- A famous meme + Creative content = Success. This formula will do wonders in increasing your brand’s online presence! When you separate memes and content, you might end up falling flat on your marketing strategy.
For instance: Using memes without a caption will confuse your target market about what your message is. On the contrary, pairing your memes with creative and eye-catching captions will get your message across to consumers and compel them to interact with your brand.
This is a good way to promote your products or services without being too forceful!
According to a 2020 survey conducted by social media management tool Crowdfireapp.com, meme marketing is set to take the marketing world by storm. With a net sentiment score of 92%, there’s a high chance millennials and Gen Zs are laughing at and sharing memes while online.
[Net Sentiment Score: This is calculated by subtracting the percentage of negative online mentions from the percentage of positive online mentions for a brand or topic.]
No wonder many big brands like Netflix, Gucci, McDonald’s, and many more are using this strategy!
If you haven’t tried meme marketing for your brand yet, now’s your chance to give it a shot!
As long as you:
- Stick to your branding
- Incorporate engaging captions to your memes
- Avoid posting too many memes on your brand’s social media pages
… and make sure this type of content is applicable to the situation or what you’re marketing, you’ll be able to spark conversations with your target market and strengthen your brand’s online presence.
Happy meme marketing!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Thursdays: FYO! Find You Optimization”
Why should you stop thinking SEO and start thinking FYO?
We’re not saying that you should abandon Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Don’t get us wrong, of course, we know this is something very important, especially in today’s digital marketing age.
The internet landscape is vast, and a world of its own. You really need to distinguish yourself and make your brand/company/website known and easily searchable.
Better yet, get to the top of page one for Top Results on Google or any other search engine.
However, what is the purpose of SEO? It’s that customers Find You!
That’s what matters. So, while SEO is one factor of FYO… it really is only one, and we ought not to abandon all the myriad of ways digitally and offline for improving your FYO.
How can we look at this from a different and better perspective?
Let’s say you have it in the bag! You and your team are experts in SEO. Awesome. But did you ever wonder what else you could do to push it further and give your SEO skills a boost?
FYO! Find You Optimization!
You need your target audience to FIND YOU—your brand, product, service, or offer. This is SEO plus other tools that increase visibility online (and offline).
Every Thursday, we publish content on how you can get your target market to find you, beyond the typical “type and search.” There are other things you can do along with your SEO to give your online advertising process a boost.
Try considering other tactics beyond it—WOMO (Word Of Mouth Optimization), RO (Referral Optimization), and “All-Other-Means-Of-Getting-Your-Target-Market-To-Find-You” Optimization (AOMOGYTMTFY, if you’d like a long acronym).
Part of a great marketing strategy is knowing how to adapt new methods and make use of different types of marketing and promotion that best fit your business goals and which give you the results you want.
Hope you’ve found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Thursday’s FYO!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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